Opto-electronic devices that make use of organic materials are becoming increasingly desirable for a number of reasons. Many of the materials used to make such devices are relatively inexpensive, so organic opto-electronic devices have the potential for cost advantages over inorganic devices. In addition, the inherent properties of organic materials, such as their flexibility, may make them well suited for particular applications such as fabrication on a flexible substrate. Examples of organic opto-electronic devices include organic light emitting devices (OLEDs), organic phototransistors, organic photovoltaic cells, and organic photodetectors. For OLEDs, the organic materials may have performance advantages over conventional materials. For example, the wavelength at which an organic emissive layer emits light may generally be readily tuned with appropriate dopants.
As used herein, the term “organic” includes polymeric materials as well as small molecule organic materials that may be used to fabricate organic opto-electronic devices. “Small molecule” refers to any organic material that is not a polymer, and “small molecules” may actually be quite large. Small molecules may include repeat units in some circumstances. For example, using a long chain alkyl group as a substituent does not remove a molecule from the “small molecule” class. Small molecules may also be incorporated into polymers, for example as a pendent group on a polymer backbone or as a part of the backbone. Small molecules may also serve as the core moiety of a dendrimer, which consists of a series of chemical shells built on the core moiety. The core moiety of a dendrimer may be an fluorescent or phosphorescent small molecule emitter. A dendrimer may be a “small molecule,” and it is believed that all dendrimers currently used in the field of OLEDs are small molecules.
OLEDs make use of thin organic films that emit light when voltage is applied across the device. OLEDs are becoming an increasingly interesting technology for use in applications such as flat panel displays, illumination, and backlighting. Several OLED materials and configurations are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,844,363, 6,303,238, and 5,707,745, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
OLED devices are generally (but not always) intended to emit light through at least one of the electrodes, and one or more transparent electrodes may be useful in an organic opto-electronic devices. For example, a transparent electrode material, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), may be used as the bottom electrode. A transparent top electrode, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,703,436 and 5,707,745, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties, may also be used. For a device intended to emit light only through the bottom electrode, the top electrode does not need to be transparent, and may be comprised of a thick and reflective metal layer having a high electrical conductivity. Similarly, for a device intended to emit light only through the top electrode, the bottom electrode may be opaque and/or reflective. Where an electrode does not need to be transparent, using a thicker layer may provide better conductivity, and using a reflective electrode may increase the amount of light emitted through the other electrode, by reflecting light back towards the transparent electrode. Fully transparent devices may also be fabricated, where both electrodes are transparent. Side emitting OLEDs may also be fabricated, and one or both electrodes may be opaque or reflective in such devices.
As used herein, “top” means furthest away from the substrate, while “bottom” means closest to the substrate. For example, for a device having two electrodes, the bottom electrode is the electrode closest to the substrate, and is generally the first electrode fabricated. The bottom electrode has two surfaces, a bottom surface closest to the substrate, and a top surface further away from the substrate. Where a first layer is described as “disposed over” a second layer, the first layer is disposed further away from substrate. There may be other layers between the first and second layer, unless it is specified that the first layer is “in physical contact with” the second layer. For example, a cathode may be described as “disposed over” an anode, even though there are various organic layers in between.
One of the main goals of OLEDs is realization of patterned full color flat panel displays in which the red, green and blue pixels are patterned deposited. Due to the difficulty of using masks for large area substrates using vapor phase deposition systems, for example substrates larger than about 0.5 meters in diameter, it is believed that patterning of the displays using ink jet printing of solution-processible materials may offer significant advantages. Ink jet printing techniques are believed to be particularly suitable for patterning the solution-processible polymers that are used in OLEDS having a polymer-based emissive layer. However, the selection of materials that may be used in such polymer-based systems is typically limited by the fact that the solution that is used as the carrier medium has to be selected so as to avoid dissolution of the underlying layer. A common choice is to use a PEDOT:PSS layer to provide hole injection and hole transport functions. PEDOT:PSS is soluble in water, but insoluble in certain organic solvents used to process polymer based emissive layers. As a result, solution processing may be used to deposit polymer based layers on PEDOT:PSS without dissolving the PEDOT:PSS.
High performance OLEDs, especially high performance electrophosphorescent OLEDs, typically require the presence of several layers that each perform separate functions. This means that it is highly desirable to be free to select from a wide variety of materials for each layer. For example, for high performance electrophosphorescent OLEDs, it is typically desirable to have two hole transport layers between the anode layer and the emissive layer. The first hole transport layer, which is in direct contact with the anode layer, is used primarily for its planarizing characteristics as well as for its more favorable hole injecting characteristics. This layer may be referred to as a hole injecting layer (HIL). The second hole transport layer (HTL), which may be in direct contact with the emissive layer is typically selected to have a high hole conductivity. This layer may also have the added function, at least in part, of blocking electrons and/or excitons.